The first of the film series 'The Decline Of Western Civilization' (1981) was originally received with political scandal and police censorship, and tried to be a look on the punk scene of the US West Coast, in his footage interviews with fans and several significant bands and their environment and included a sneak on the people that made Slash punk fanzine, in what seems at some point an anthropological research on that movement. It also showed live performances by the likes of Black Flag, Germs, X or Bags among others. The film became a cult iconic scene element and its soundtrack, published by the small label the people from Slash fanzine created, sold well. That inspired to make a sequel, released in 1988, which with the adding in the title of 'The Metal Years' covered part of the metal scene with statements by main figures and including performances by some minor bands, Megadeth perhaps the most massive of them. Still a third part would emerge a decade later that dealt with the lives of homeless punk teenagers. All were directed by Penelope Spheeris, who prior to the series was responsible of a lot of music videos with her own production company and later also directed long narrative films with unequal luck.